Thoughts on the Hogs Red/White Game

[Izulde]

Quarterback

Ryan Mallett made some gorgeous throws and a few iffy ones, including one for a pick right after a pick of the White Team. The other INT he had on the night wasn't his fault. In short, he looked about what you'd expect a talented young QB in his first year with a new team would look. Make no mistake though, as he gets more comfortable and in sync with the offense and his receivers, he's going to be very, very good. Even now he's a massive upgrade over He-Who-Must-Be-Forgotten.

Tyler Wilson started off really slow and looked awful, but then he picked it up and looked pretty sharp as the game went on, splitting time between the Red and White teams. Dude has an absolute cannon for an arm and while I was initially nervous if Mallett went down, I think we'd be fine if we had to turn to Wilson.

Jim Youngblood is what he is - a third string scrub. Didn't impress me at all, though he did throw for a TD.

Running Back

With Michael Smith out due to an injury, this was a great opportunity to look at some of the other RBs we have.

De'Anthony Curtis has some real talent, but he fumbled the ball at least twice and really drove me crazy with those turnovers. However, not only is he clearly the most talented back on the roster not named Smith, he was the only one all game who showed anything resembling pass-catching ability out of the backfield.

Dennis Johnson doesn't have the ball security issues that Curtis has it seems and had a couple decent runs, but overall he just struck me as really meh. I know MJ4H rates him well, but to me he's just very ordinary.

Broderick Green is another back MJ4H and I disagree on I think. I see him as little more than a short-yardage back and I'm not sure he's even worth that. Did have a couple catches out of the backfield as I remember now, but overall, just didn't impress me at all.

Mitchell Bailey's listed as a FB, but he got a lot of carries early on with the White Team and did nothing with him. This ain't no Wisconsin FB, let me tell you. Don't know how he is outside of that.

Adrian Moore had arguably the most beautiful run of the night on a play where it looked like they were going left and he took the ball right, burst through the hole and was just gone 42 yards for the TD. Absolutely sensational to watch. Didn't see much else from him though, but based on what I saw, I'd say he'd push Johnson.

Wide Receivers

Way, way, way too many dropped passes out of this unit. It's got me a little worried, to be honest and I didn't get a clear sense of everyone, but here's the ones I did.

Joe Adams seems to have a real knack for getting open and looked arguably the best of the WRs on the night. Pretty good hands as well and probably the #1 receiver of the players returning.

Jarius Wright can make some brilliant, tough catches, but he also drops passes that he shouldn't. Kind of reminds me of the WR version of Curtis in that regard.

Reggie Fish got quite a few looks and made some catches, but I don't see him as anything special. I'm also scared if they plan on using him as a return man, because he's way too butterfingers on that.

Tight Ends

D.J. Williams is godly. He'll be a junior next year and as good as he was last season, he looks even better this upcoming season. For my money, he's one of the top pass-catching TEs in the entire country. I -love- watching this kid play. I think the only pass he didn't catch thrown his way the entire night was one Mallett threw over his head. There's a reason he was the Razorbacks' Offensive Player of the Year last year (Smith won MVP).

Defense

Biggest difference between this year and last - the D, especially the first team, actually attacked the run and did a good job of bottling up the White Team's backs, with the exception of Moore's homerun play. A far cry from last year, where even a D 1-AA back could net himself 100 yards with not much effort against the Hogs. The defense will be drastically improved from that alone.

On the negative side, the secondary is just bad. Yes, there were a few picks, but overall, they definitely looked like the weakest link on the team. MJ4H says we've got some good guys coming in once fall practice starts and I hope we do, because if we don't, we're going to get eaten alive through the air.

Offensive Line

They seemed to do a pretty good job, even with Luigs lost to graduation.

Overall, the general sense I get is that the Hogs are going to be a -much- improved team next season. In fact, I'd see a bowl game as a real possibility, but only a minor bowl. Defense is still too suspect, especially the secondary and in the SEC to have higher aims than that and if Smith has injury problems, our running game takes a pretty significant hit. But with Mallett under center and Williams and an improved through experience WR corps, we won't have a problem putting points up on the board.

[MJ4H]

lol

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by Izulde

Ryan Mallett made some gorgeous throws and a few iffy ones, including one for a pick right after a pick of the White Team. The other INT he had on the night wasn't his fault. In short, he looked about what you'd expect a talented young QB in his first year with a new team would look. Make no mistake though, as he gets more comfortable and in sync with the offense and his receivers, he's going to be very, very good. Even now he's a massive upgrade over He-Who-Must-Be-Forgotten.

My one year look at him as a Michigan fan was he could very easily be a guy who wills his teams to victory even if it's ugly some times because he comes across as having a certain "it" factor you can't coach. If he smooths out the ugly, he has the potential to be special.

[Izulde]

MJ4H: :P

Matthean: Yeah, I definitely got that "it" vibe from him. This wasn't no Casey Dick or Corey Bramlet out there that's for sure. He's got some development to do, but I really liked what I saw him out of tonight.

[Edward64]

Thanks for your notes. Yes, as excited (as always with the start of spring practice). I'll be happy with a regular bowl but that's what Nutt took us to. My hope is a consistent top 25.

Originally Posted by Izulde

Quarterback
Ryan Mallett ... Even now he's a massive upgrade over He-Who-Must-Be-Forgotten.

If you are referring to CD ... give the kid a break, he did his best with what he had and coaching. Unless you think he and Nutt were in cahoots, he wasn't the problem, it was Nutt.

For Running Backs, did not see anything on Wingo. Is he playing RB/TB or is he red-shirted?

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by Edward64

For Running Backs, did not see anything on Wingo. Is he playing RB/TB or is he red-shirted?

Don't think he's enrolled yet.

[MJ4H]

Yeah Wingo is still in high school. He'll be here and I doubt he redshirts. He could if Broderick Green is made eligible, but even then I doubt.

Speaking of Broderick Green, even though he got the ball several times, almost every time he did there was a defender there to try to take the hand-off at the same time. When he was given a decent chance, he ran hard, but he rarely got that chance.

As far as my takes:

Mallett: he threw two passes that made my jaw drop. One was that post pattern for a touchdown to Jarius Wright, and the other was about a 40 yd (in the air) laser to Jarius Wright, both which had almost no arc. They were lasers. Crazy good arm.

Tyler Wilson played for both teams last night, and I think I remembered hearing he was 14 of 16 for the red team (1st team offense vs 2nd team defense). Sounds like he is still pushing Mallett hard for starter. There have been people that thought he had a great chance of beating Mallett for the job all along. Last night I saw why.

I do rate Dennis Johnson pretty highly. He didn't get much of a chance at running back last season, but when he did, he was a star. He did most of the kick-off returning last season and brought one all the way back against Tulsa that turned out to be the game-winner. I felt like we only got a few looks from him last night, but he definitely still has that little scooter look to him.

Receivers: I agree way too many dropped. That has been the word all spring. I'm pretty sure this will get better as they get more used to the quarterbacks. I hope.

The help coming in in the fall in the secondary should be tremendous. 5* Darius Winston, 4* Rudell Crim and Anthony Leon (both top JUCOs), and 3* (should be at least 4 star from what I've seen, and most people agree) David Gordon. Petrino has said the two JUCO guys could be one and dones they are so good.

I definitely agree with Izulde's conclusions. Much, much improved this season, but brutal schedule. 7 to 8 wins would be pretty good. Bowl game should happen, but probably 2nd tier (Independence, Music City, Outback, something like that).

[MJ4H]

Here are some pictures I took. I didn't take many because I like watching with my eyes instead of a viewfinder and I have a crappy 5 MP camera, but here they are: